A potentially abundant junctional RNA motif stabilized by m⁶A and Mg².

ABSTRACT: N⁶-Methyladenosine (m⁶A) is an abundant post-transcriptional RNA modification that influences multiple aspects of gene expression. In addition to recruiting proteins, m⁶A can modulate RNA function by destabilizing base pairing. Here, we show that when neighbored by a 5' bulge, m⁶A stabilizes m⁶A-U base pairs, and global RNA structure by ~1 kcal mol^-1. The bulge most likely provides the flexibility needed to allow optimal stacking between the methyl group and 3' neighbor through a conformation that is stabilized by Mg²⁺. A bias toward this motif can help explain the global impact of methylation on RNA structure in transcriptome-wide studies. While m⁶A embedded in duplex RNA is poorly recognized by the YT

SUBMITTER: Liu B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6050335 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature